Not according to its revered Founding Fathers, who crafted a presidential voting system based on an Electoral College, rather than a popular vote, to save the country from itself. And not according to founder Benjamin Franklin, who called democracy “two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.”

As a result, the president is elected by a group of state delegates, not individual voters. “Swing states” that are not firm supporters of one or another political party become decisive battlegrounds, lavishly wooed with candidate appearances, political promises and millions of advertising dollars.

Voters in other states complain that their votes don’t count. But in spite of a growing movement for a popular vote system, no party has taken on the contentious task of launching a bid for constitutional change.

Disparities between electoral and popular vote counts have caused bitter political divisions in the past, as when Al Gore lost to George W. Bush in 2000. In this too-close-to-call election, the nightmare of a candidate who wins the college but loses the popular vote — or vice-versa — is back.

Q: How did the Electoral College come about?

A: The U.S. was a young country in the 18th century, with little experience of direct election of leaders. Most of the original governors were chosen by state lawmakers. The first plan for choosing a president was a vote by the Congress. To avoid giving the legislature too much power over the country’s leader, and to emphasize the importance of the union of states in the choice of a leader, the constitutional framers opted for a compromise: the state-based Electoral College. Nevertheless, Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800 was so hotly contested that the final selection was made by Congress.

Q: So who actually elects the president?

A: Electors are usually chosen by major political parties at state conventions, or appointed by state party leaders. In a state like Florida, with 29 electoral votes, 29 potential Democratic and 29 potential Republican “electors” would be chosen in advance of the presidential poll.

Q: How many votes does each state get?

A: Electoral College votes depend on the number of U.S. senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives in each state. In 2012 some states gained or lost votes according to a U.S. Census Bureau head count.

Q: Who gets the biggest slice of the electoral pie?

A: California, with 55. Followed by Texas, 38, New York and Florida, 29 each.

Q: How does a presidential candidate win those votes?

A: It’s mostly winner-take-all. The candidate with the most popular votes in a state wins all its votes. But in Maine and Nebraska, two electors are chosen by state popular vote and the remainder by the popular vote within each congressional district.

Q: So in such a complex system, how does Joe or Jane Average vote?

A: They cast their ballot for their favourite candidates and hope for the best. Those ballots are counted as popular vote. Their ballots, however, also elect the “real” electors in each state – whether Republican or Democrat. The electors are the ones who cast the official vote for president on behalf of the voters in their state.

Once the popular vote is known, the electors chosen by the losing party stand down, and those on the winning side are called to the Electoral College, to meet in December and vote for the country’s leaders.

California electors, for instance, would cast 55 Electoral College votes, and those of Wyoming, only 3. The electors are chosen for party loyalty, and are expected to vote for their party’s candidates, so “faithlessness” is not an important issue. Nevertheless more than half the states have laws to prevent it.

Those who want to change the two-century-old system to a popular vote argue that the Electoral College undemocratically skews election campaigns, affecting the way in which candidates focus on individual states and their issues.

In the 2012 campaign, most of Obama’s and Romney’s resources have gone into winning uncertain swing states rather than voters throughout the whole country. States the candidates know they are certain to win or lose get short shrift. With a direct vote system they would have to work harder in more of the populous states, although the smaller states could get less attention.

Q: Do the Electoral College electors cast ballots along with the public, Nov. 6?

A: No. They vote on Dec. 13, casting one ballot each for president and vice-president. The announcement of the winners is made by the president of the U.S. Senate on Jan. 6.

Q: And if the numbers don’t add up?

To win the Electoral College, a candidate needs one vote more than 50 per cent of the total of 538 votes, or 270 votes. If neither side reaches that total, the House of Representatives selects the president, with each state’s representative casting one vote. Again, 50 per cent plus one is the rule. In the Republican-dominated House, Romney would be a shoo-in. But in an election as tight as Jennifer Lopez’s jeans, it’s also possible for an Electoral College winner to lose the popular vote.

Q: Which would mean?

A: Some say a bad political hangover, others an electoral zombie apocalypse. Either way, it would ratchet up Washington’s already ferocious partisan wars, infuriate powerhouse states such as California and New York — along with many voters — and cast international doubt on the American electoral system.